The Daily Startup: EyeVerify to Bring ‘EyePrint’ ID to Smartphones

EyeVerify aims to bring “eyeprint” biometric-identification security to phones and mobile devices, and has raised a $2.3 million Series A round as several banks test its products. It aims to be the first company to offer eyeball scanning for the tablets and phones that are on the market today. EyeVerify is able to map the vasculature of the eyeball using the standard camera that most such devices are equipped with.

Seeing their portfolio companies go public is a goal for many venture capital firms, but Grotech Ventures is not among them. The firm closed an oversubscribed eighth fund at $225 million–about $25 million more than what it was originally seeking–on the strength of its ability to help its portfolio companies get acquired, according to founder and Managing General Partner Frank Adams.

Also in today’s VentureWire, Fetal-diagnostics company CellScape has closed a multi-tranched Series B round as it seeks to break new ground in the area of natal diagnostics, using a simple blood draw that can replace a commonly used test called amniocentesis…Frazier Healthcare has raised $281.8 million toward its goal of rounding up $300 million or more across two funds that will be invested together in growth-equity deals and later-stage biotechnology companies…and Power-electronics maker Transphorm hired its Japanese strategic investor’s chief executive to helm its own operations. Fumihide “Humi” Esaka, chief executive of Nihon Inter Electronics, will join Transphorm as CEO starting July 1.

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